Moonspear An invitation

Alya showed no signs of surprise at this statement, although inwardly, she was taken aback. She still thought of Nikai from time to time, but she'd stopped hoping he would remember her some time ago. Their encounters had been long ago and relatively brief, and though she was beautiful, she was far out of his reach.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Alya, ears flicking back. "Is he alright? I've been meaning to visit him, but... we've been having family troubles." That was one way to put it. At least she could now emphathize with Nikai about lost family members - except that she couldn't, because he was not there, and she was alone.